Conflict Escalates Between MCB and U.K. Government

U.K. media is reporting on the escalation of the conflict between the government and the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) over a government minister’s call for the resignation of its Deputy Secretary. According to a report in the Guardian newspaper:

Britain’s largest Muslim body has accused ministers of wanting to “undermine its independence” by demanding one of its leaders be removed from office. The accusation is the strongest public attack yet by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) in its row with the government after ministers broke off relations earlier this month. Hazel Blears, the communities and local government minister, wrote to the MCB demanding the resignation of Daud Abdullah, its deputy secretary general, after he allegedly called for violence against Israel. The private letter containing her ultimatum to the MCB was published in full (pdf) on Monday by the Guardian. Today the MCB spokesman Inayat Bunglawala told the Guardian that the government only wanted to deal with Muslim groups who were “stooges” and “spineless”, and vowed the council would resist attempts to interfere in how it was run…In another sign that the row is intensifying, the MCB will stage a rally this Saturday alongside other Muslim groups to try to garner support for its fight with the government. The government and MCB were once close allies. The furore comes as the former is working to improve relations with British Muslim communities as it tries to boost efforts to thwart terrorism and radicalisation inspired by al-Qaida. Bunglawala, who is close to the thinking of MCB leaders, told the Guardian: “We intend to resist the attempted government interference in the running of the MCB. “The call on the MCB to force the resignation of Daud Abdullah is clearly unacceptable. It can be seen as an attempt to undermine the independence of the MCB.”

As a previous post reported, the MCB had earlier called the government’s actions a “witch hunt.”

The MCB is a U.K. umbrella group dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

(Note: another earlier post reported that Inayat Bunglawala, identified above, may faces charges over a stabbing incident at his home. No further details appear to have been released on that incident.)